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UIC scientists find ancient microbes in salty, ice-sealed Antarctic lake

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27.11.2012

Shedding light on the limits of life in extreme environments, scientists have discovered abundant and diverse metabolically active bacteria in the brine of an Antarctic lake sealed under more than 65 feet of ice.

The finding, described in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is surprising because previous studies indicate that the brine has been isolated from the surface environment -- and external sources of energy -- for at least 2,800 years, according to two of the report's authors, Peter Doran and Fabien Kenig, both professors of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"This provides us with new boundary conditions on the limits for life," said Doran. "The low temperature or high salinity on their own are limiting, but combined with an absence of solar energy or any new inputs from the atmosphere, they make this a very tough place to make a living."

The researchers drilled out cores of ice, using sanitary procedures and equipment. They collected samples of brine within the ice and assessed its chemical qualities and potential for sustaining life.

They found that the brine is oxygen-free, slightly acidic, and contains high levels of organic carbon, molecular hydrogen, and both oxidized and reduced compounds. The findings were unexpected because of the extremely salty, dark, cold, isolated ecosystem within the ice.

"Geochemical analyses suggest that chemical reactions between the brine and the underlying sediment generate nitrous oxide and molecular hydrogen," said Kenig. "The hydrogen may provide some of the energy needed to support microbes."

"We'd like to go back and find if there is a proper body of brine without ice down there," said Doran. "We'd also like to get some sediment cores from below that to better establish the history of the lake. In the meantime, we are using radar and other geophysical techniques to probe what lies beneath."

The research was conducted with Alison Murray and colleagues at the Desert Research Institute and scientists at other institutes.

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 27,500 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

NOTE: Please refer to the institution as the University of Illinois at Chicago on first reference and UIC on second reference. "University of Illinois" and "U. of I." are often assumed to refer to our sister campus in Urbana-Champaign.

Anne Brooks Ranallo | Source: EurekAlert!
Further information: www.uic.edu/uic/

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